User Reviews

This past year, my husband and I were aboard the Viking Skirnir
for the Grand European Tour beginning September 26 and ending
October 10. This was our “Swan Song,” because due to our age, we
knew we couldn’t take another trip like this. I must say that the
food and service on the ship was excellent. We enjoyed every mile
of the trip until we had occasion to deal with Verona, the
Concierge.

When we arrived in Vienna, my husband became suddenly and
extremely ill with what we later learned was pneumonia. The doctor
that Verona called came to our stateroom, observed my husband on
the floor and said, “I’m a doctor. I don’t pick people up.” He
didn’t touch him or talk to him, which I thought was very arrogant.
Then he charged me 100 Euros, leaving me with three Euros. I asked
him to call an ambulance, which he did, because my husband was
feverish and unable to rise from the floor. He is nearing 90, so of
course, I was extremely worried about him, and I was sick, too.
Verona did nothing to advise us in any way.

As we were leaving, she told me I would have to find my own way
back to the US. I asked her how I should do that, and she said to
call my travel agent. Viking was my travel agent! She also said I
would have to find a way to get to Budapest to pack up our things
and get them back to Vienna. She told me that a taxi would be too
expensive, and I should take a train, but didn’t tell me where I
could find a train station. She made no suggestion where I might
find a hotel in Vienna, or anyone I could call to get some advice
as to how I might manage alone in Vienna. She also reminded me that
there were expenses we had incurred on the ship that needed to be
paid for. She didn’t call my emergency number to notify my daughter
what had happened to us. Why do we give emergency contacts to
Viking? Our children were terrified.

When I left the ship in a panic, worried about my husband, I
took only a change of clothes for him and our toothbrushes. I
forgot any clothes for myself, and I had no money. It took a couple
of days for me to find a hotel room, an ATM for money, and a coat
and umbrella to keep me from the rain. I also had a terrible sore
throat and cold, so I was miserable in more ways than one.

Meanwhile, on the third day, Verona called me to say I could
pick up my belongings when the ship made its return trip to Vienna.
She knew all along that the ship was coming back, but she let me
worry over how I was going to get to Budapest to get our things. My
blood pressure was 228/110 and I had to make two trips to the
emergency room for IVs to try to lower it. I’ve never been so alone
and so worried in my life.

I didn’t have time to get the insurance papers, so I couldn’t
call them for assistance, until I picked up all our things the 5th
day of our stay in Vienna. I didn’t have the leisure of thinking of
and picking out the various items I might have needed for ten days,
when my husband is getting in an ambulance going to a hospital,
which I wasn’t familiar with. I had to get on the ambulance in a
hurry to accompany my husband. However, Verona had time to rudely
warn me of all the things I needed to take care of.

My husband was in the hospital for 10 days, when we were finally
discharged to return home, but unfortunately I have only the memory
of being an old woman completely helpless in Vienna without even a
hint of concern or assistance and unable to speak the language.
Would you have wanted your mother to have been put in this
situation? No one takes a cruise thinking there would be an
emergency, but Verona surely could have recommended a hotel in
Vienna or had someone accompany us to translate. She is a very poor
individual to represent Viking Cruise lines, and the fact she is
there is a reflection of poor hiring patterns by Viking. We were
notified by Viking that we could have a $250 coupon for another
trip.

This past year, my husband and I were aboard the Viking Skirnir
for the Grand European Tour beginning September 26 and ending
October 10. This was our “Swan Song,” because due to our age, we
knew we couldn’t take another trip like this. I must say that the
food and service on the ship was excellent. We enjoyed every mile
of the trip until we had occasion to deal with Verona, the
Concierge.

When we arrived in Vienna, my husband became suddenly and
extremely ill with what we later learned was pneumonia. The doctor
that Verona called came to our stateroom, observed my husband on
the floor and said, “I’m a doctor. I don’t pick people up.” He
didn’t touch him or talk to him, which I thought was very arrogant.
Then he charged me 100 Euros, leaving me with three Euros. I asked
him to call an ambulance, which he did, because my husband was
feverish and unable to rise from the floor. He is nearing 90, so of
course, I was extremely worried about him, and I was sick, too.
Verona did nothing to advise us in any way. As we were leaving, she
told me I would have to find my own way back to the US. I asked her
how I should do that, and she said to call my travel agent. Viking
was my travel agent! She also said I would have to find a way to
get to Budapest to pack up our things and get them back to Vienna.
She told me that a taxi would be too expensive, and I should take a
train, but didn’t tell me where I could find a train station. She
made no suggestion where I might find a hotel in Vienna, or anyone
I could call to get some advice as to how I might manage alone in
Vienna. She also reminded me that there were expenses we had
incurred on the ship that needed to be paid for. She didn’t call my
emergency number to notify my daughter what had happened to us. Why
do we give emergency contacts to Viking? Our children were
terrified.

When I left the ship in a panic, worried about my husband, I
took only a change of clothes for him and our toothbrushes. I
forgot any clothes for myself, and I had no money. It took a couple
of days for me to find a hotel room, an ATM for money, and a coat
and umbrella to keep me from the rain. I also had a terrible sore
throat and cold, so I was miserable in more ways than one.

Meanwhile, on the third day, Verona called me to say I could
pick up my belongings when the ship made its return trip to Vienna.
She knew all along that the ship was coming back, but she let me
worry over how I was going to get to Budapest to get our things. My
blood pressure was 228/110 and I had to make two trips to the
emergency room for IVs to try to lower it. I’ve never been so alone
and so worried in my life.

I didn’t have time to get the insurance papers, so I couldn’t
call them for assistance, until I picked up all our things the 5th
day of our stay in Vienna. I didn’t have the leisure of thinking of
and picking out the various items I might have needed for ten days,
when my husband is getting in an ambulance going to a hospital,
which I wasn’t familiar with. I had to get on the ambulance in a
hurry to accompany my husband. However, Verona had time to rudely
warn me of all the things I needed to take care of.

My husband was in the hospital for 10 days, when we were finally
discharged to return home, but unfortunately I have only the memory
of being an old woman completely helpless in Vienna without even a
hint of concern or assistance and unable to speak the language.
Would you have wanted your mother to have been put in this
situation? No one takes a cruise thinking there would be an
emergency, but Verona surely could have recommended a hotel in
Vienna or had someone accompany us to translate. She is a very poor
individual to represent Viking Cruise lines, and the fact she is
there is a reflection of poor hiring patterns by Viking.

My husband and I were recently aboard the Viking Skirnir for the
Grand European Tour beginning September 26 and ending October 10.
This was our “Swan Song,” because due to our age, we knew we
couldn’t take another trip like this.

When we arrived in Vienna, my husband became suddenly and
extremely ill with what we later learned was pneumonia. The doctor
that Verona, the concierge, called came to our stateroom, observed
my husband on the floor and said, “I’m a doctor. I don’t pick
people up.” Then he charged me 100 Euros, leaving me with three
Euros. I asked him to call an ambulance, which he did, because my
husband was feverish and unable to rise from the floor. He is
nearing 90, so of course, I was extremely worried about him, and I
was sick, too. Verona took charge as we were leaving the ship, but
did nothing to help us in any way. She said I would have to find a
way to get to Budapest to pack up our things and get them back to
Vienna. She told me that a taxi would be too expensive, and

I should take a train, but didn’t tell me where I could find a
train station. She made no suggestion where I might find a hotel in
Vienna, or anyone I could call to get some advice as to how I might
manage alone in Vienna. Nor did she call my emergency number to
notify my daughter what had happened to us. Why do we give
emergency contacts to Viking? Our children were terrified.
Meanwhile, on the third day, Verona called me to say I could pick
up my belongings when the ship made its return trip to Vienna. She
knew all along that the ship was coming back, but she let me worry
over how I was going to get to Budapest to get our things. My blood
pressure was 228/110 and I had to make two trips to the emergency
room for IVs to try to lower it. I’ve never been so alone and so
worried in my life.

My husband was in the hospital for 10 days, when we were finally
discharged to return home, but unfortunately I have only the memory
of being an old woman completely helpless in Vienna without even a
hint of concern or assistance and unable to speak the language.
Would Verona have wanted her mother to have been put in this
situation? My letter to Viking about this was sent a month ago, but
it has has gone unanswered.

We booked passage for a “Romantic Cruise of the Danube” aboard
the Viking Freya from November 7 – 14, 2015. In the event, however,
there was little cruising or romance to be had. Rather than a
cruise our vacation turned out to be mainly a bus excursion during
which we stayed aboard ships. Water levels forced us to disembark
and travel to other ships by land transportation twice during the
week. We did not receive from Viking what we paid well for and we
are very dissatisfied by the way the company communicated, or
rather failed to communicate, with us. Clearly conditions for
cruising on the river had been deteriorating for months and yet
they did nothing to alert us in advance to the probable and serious
disruptions, let alone offer us the option of canceling or
postponing.

We appreciate that Viking has no control over the weather or
river conditions. It does, however, have control over the
information it provides and it communicated badly with its
passengers. Caveat emptor? Perhaps we were naïve in expecting more
from the Viking Line.

The distance from Nuremburg to Budapest is about 755 km. That is
a

road measurement but the river distances should be at least
proportionately similar. We sailed about 112 km from Nuremburg to
Regensburg and about 87 km from Melk to Vienna during our trip for
an approximate total cruising distance of 199 km, or only about 26%
of the total distance we expected to sail. The other 74% was
traveled by bus. Having to change boats twice during the week
deprived us of one of the most attractive advantages of cruising,
not having to pack and unpack repeatedly.

The “cruise” was kept from being a complete debacle owing only
to the competence and friendliness of the Viking staff and crew on
the three Viking ships we were on during our trip. They were
uniformly courteous, competent, pleasant, and helpful. The ships
were nice and well maintained, the food was good, and the
staterooms smallish but well designed and laid out. We wish that we
were able to focus this review on those aspects of the river trip.
Regrettably, Viking’s mishandling, in our view, of its obligations
to its customers denies us that option.

We wrote to Viking expressing our dissatisfaction with its
treatment of us then followed up with a phone call. Viking refused
to offer us any compensation beyond a 25% discount coupon on a
future cruise with them, basically an enticement to us to spend
more money with them rather than any real compensation for the
inconvenience we experienced at their hands. Their standard
contract basically says that they can change any aspect of a cruise
they want without incurring further obligation to their customers.
Legally, they probably are covered. Morally, in our view, they are
not.

If you are planning to take a Viking river cruise in Europe, we
recommend that you do due diligence concerning river conditions
beforehand and not rely on Viking to keep you informed. We do not
expect to be utilizing the company’s services again in the future.
If we want a bus tour of Europe, I’m sure that we can find one that
is much less expensive.

P.S. - An aside but probably one of interest to those
considering this cruise. A strong sewage odor emanates from the
water at Regensburg and along other stretches of the canal from
Nuremburg and also along parts of the Danube. Something that is not
mentioned in the cruise brochures.

Don't understand the negative reviews on here, we had a great
time with our viking cruise this summer! We took the Rhine Getaway
tour from Basel to Amsterdam and loved it. Great food, very
accomodating staff, lots of vegetarian options for those with
alternative diets. If you're hesitating since you've never taken a
cruise before (like us) I actually liked checking out their videos
like (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-QGaVvEWoc) or this one
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhX_f2IVKfU). Anyway, highly
recommend this getaway, we'll cherish our memories for a long time
to come!

Our experience with Viking was terrible! We had previously taken
a river cruise with Viking, and although there were problems with
that trip we still decided to try them one more time. The second
time was worse, far worse!

It began when Viking was two weeks late (beyond their on
declared time line) in sending us our air reservations. I had to
call to prompt them to send the reservations. The overseas flights
that they arranged for us had terrible seat assignments and when I
tried to change these seats with American Airlines I found that
Viking had completely botched the reservations. The information for
the couple that we were traveling with was switched with ours.
After several hours on the phone with American they informed me
that I would have to get Viking to straighten it out. Viking was
resistant, claiming that it was American’s problem. After hours
more on the phone with Viking I finally got them to cancel the air
reservations and get us new reservations. The seat assignments were
even worse but at least the personal info was correct so I could go
out and pay up to

get decent seats. All in all I spent approximately 10 hours on the
phone with Viking and American in order to get our air reservations
straightened out. I spoke to ten different Viking employees and
almost all of them were unapologetic and resistant to helping. I
had to get angry and demand to speak to a supervisor to even get
help!

After all this, the ocean cruise was fairly nice except that the
shore excursions were poorly chosen. We paid $100-200 for several
excursions that took us to small, quaint villages that were largely
closed up for the winter – no shops or restaurants to visit! All
you could do was walk the empty streets.

This was apparently the last outing of the season and it showed.
The crew was tired and testy. The food poor and lacking in fresh
fruit and vegetables - several meals had no vegetables or fruit at
all. Meals were served at differing times each day and the daily
newsletter did not always have the correct time listed so we missed
a number of meals - especially breakfast and lunch. The heating was
often non-existent and at other times smothering. Some of the
outings were great, others were very poor, but the crew never
bothered to let us know when we could leave the ship and kept a
chain across the gangplank until the outings occurred. After
missing the opportunity to see Melk because we made the mistake of
reading and believing the daily flyer and obeying the chain, only
to have a crew member harshly scold us for wanting to actually do
what their flyer recommended - stroll through Melk. - we began to
simply remove the chain as soon as we docked. It turned out that
others were equally as frustrated and they also began to leave as
soon

as they saw us go.

The area was beautiful, especially in all of the snow, and on
the plus side we both lost several pounds on this trip. The New
Year's Eve party was karaoke and not pleasant and other events
promised did not really occur.

I would highly recommend that if you choose Viking, do not let
them make flight arrangements. They routed us to Newark with a
connecting flight out of JFK. We had similar problems on the return
trip. The upshot of the airline debacle was the loss of a day on
the return and having to spend an extra $500 and much anxiety to
get home. Definitely not worth the supposed 'savings and
convenience' of having Viking make the arrangements.

Viking's solution to our complaints was to give us a voucher for
$250 each for travel on their cruise line - to be used within one
year. They did not seem to understand that the last thing we wanted
to do was waste any additional vacation time on another bad cruise
any time soon.

My grandparents booked this cruise in April of this year. My
grandfather passed away this last week, unexpectedly. My
grandmother called to see what could be done with the tickets,
within 2 minutes of talking to someone, they had her in tears
saying that it is not their fault that he died and showing a death
certificate would unnecessary because it meant nothing to them. My
brother took the phone and ask to speak to management on her
behalf. When he got a response saying that their is no management,
then got hung up on. We then called again to hopefully to talk to
someone else. We then came to realize that the lady we were talking
to was management, that told us there was no management. We are
still waiting for a reply. We mentioned to get an attorney involved
and they said it was unnecessary and would not give information to
contact theirs.

It's too bad that Viking isn't better prepared to deliver what
you purchase when the weather doesn't cooperate. As a river cruise
line, they should have back up plans for when ships break down,
rivers flood and lock are inoperable. And let's throw in a couple
of destination docks that were unavailable necessitating docking in
industrial sites. This was a very expensive trip for my husband and
I and was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. We were changed to
a different ship (with only one day's prior notice; some passengers
received no notice at all). We did not receive the suite we paid
for, but a standard stateroom. When we finally changed to the Var,
the ship we were booked on, it broke down after one day. We then
missed a town, received a shortened tour in two locations due to
being bussed from the boat and eventually spent the last two nights
in a hotel. When trying to resolve compensation with Viking, they
ignore phone calls and emails. Unless you have a crystal ball and
can guarantee that the weather will be good, plan on NOT

getting what you paid for. Their ads are what got us hooked on
doing this in the first place, but their signature clip showing the
ship entering Budapest didn't happen for us. We entered the city on
a bus.

This was our third cruise with Viking and our last. When we
arrived in Budapest we found out that the boat was moved out of
Budapest due to high water. That should have been our first clue to
cancel this fiasco of a cruise. We were held in a hotel for 6 hours
and then bused over an hour to the boat. that was the first of many
bus rides since the river was too high for the boat to move.

I have cruised with Viking before and had no problems. What an
eye opener when we had problems. We were offered a paltry voucher
to use on our next cruise. I tried to talk with Viking customer
services but they were more interested in telling how much overtime
they had to work due to the high water situation. I wanted to voice
my frustration at this compensation but received stonewalling and
"I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do". I paid a premium to sail
with Viking but they are acting like the Dollar Store of Cruise
Lines. I have waited more than 2 weeks for a

reply and so far none is coming. Cruisers beware of Viking.

We were told misinformation, told things were going to get
better, and given no option to being stranded on a floating hotel.
Then as the water lapped over the banks of the Danube we were told
we will be taken to Munich (a 12 hour bus ride). We can home
exhausted from the bussing, and frustrated at the customer service
of a cruise line that I thought was reputable. Vacationers beware
of Viking. If anything goes wrong they will not be there to fix
it.

Editor's note: this was two reviews from the same email
address, it has been consolidated into one review.

My wife and I cruised along the River Danube between Budapest
and Nuremburg in July 2012. We had chosen to travel with Viking
River Cruises (VRC) and were embarked on their latest ship, Viking
Embla, for its maiden voyage from Budapest. Our only previous river
cruise had been along the Yangtse River and that before the Dam had
been built.

Our flights from Heathrow to Budapest and return from Munich
were part of the Viking River Cruises (VRC) package and both
flights were British Airways scheduled flights.

The ' meet and greet' service at Budapest airport was
excellent: as was both the transfer to the ship and check-in.

Viking Embla was moored directly opposite Budapest's Buda
Castle ( once the Hungarian Royal palace) on the Buda side of the
Danube...

The Viking Embla is a purpose built River Longship with
accommodation on 3 levels for 190 guests.

Onboard there is a selection of accommodation ranging from
Suites and staterooms with a balcony (called Verandas) to the
smaller French Balcony staterooms which feature a floor to ceiling
sliding glass door (no balcony) down to a small number of
staterooms on the lowest deck with a half-height

window. For this river cruise we had chosen a 'Superior Veranda
Stateroom', basically placing us on the upper accommodation deck
level.All accommodation has deluxe amenities, premium toiletries
(L'Occitane) and high-definition in room entertainment.

Passengers are each supplied with a personal wireless 'Tour
Guide' receiver for their use on all the inclusive tours that VRC
arrange.

Embla has a Main Restaurant which operates on a one sitting /
open seating system, while the Aquavit Terrace offers an
indoor/outdoor area at the bow of the ship for more casual dining
at breakfast and lunch.

The Aquavit Terrace is effectively an extension of the
Observation Lounge, which also incorporates the shipâ€TMs bar and
entertainment area. It is here where, in addition to the limited
entertainment programme, port talks and cultural lectures are
given.

Viking Embla is well blessed with open deck space and more
than sufficient good quality furnishings. One particular innovation
that has been incorporated into the Viking Embla design is a
â€TMretractableâ€TM Sun Deck features. On its journey along the
Danube the Viking Embla often met a number of low bridges. In order
to facilitate the safe navigation under such low obstacles the deck
awning is lowered hydraulically along with the various masts. Even
the Captainâ€TMs Bridge lowered and raised under a similar
hydraulic system.

A considerable amount of time is spent on board with
passengers enjoying the constantly changing scenery and the ship
making its leisurely passage along the river between each of its
itinerary destination towns and cities. Bridges have already been
mentioned but on this particular river cruise there were also
numerous locks and narrows that need to be navigated through.

Breakfast was served buffet style in both the Main Restaurant
and on the Aquavit Terrace. There was an excellent selection of
both hot and cold offerings: all traditional breakfast fare being
on offer. Lunches were semi buffet style and again, available in
both the Aquavit Terrace and the Main Restaurant.

Dinner was full waiter service on a one sitting, open seating
arrangement and would follow the "early evening" Cruise Director's
â€ following dayâ€TMs eventsâ€TM briefing in the lounge.
Complimentary selected Wines, beers and soft drinks were served
during both lunch and dinner.

We certainly found the cuisine on board perfectly satisfactory
for the style of ship we were cruising on. Serving upwards of 190
passengers in one fast sitting is never going to offer high end
cuisine nor should it be expected. Having said that though, what
was produced was certainly substantial, variable in choice,
particularly for dinner, and an alternative steak or salmon dish
was always on offer. The boat was certainly pushed out on the
Captainâ€TMs Gala Dinner Night.

Executive Chef Karl Heinz certainly conjured up some
interesting regional dishes to tempt the palate and the attentive
waiters ensured that copious quantities of acceptable wine were
available. This wasnâ€TMt Cunard Grills but hey, no complaint, we
didnâ€TMt starve.

This was a 7 night cruise and as originally stated, was
sailing between Budapest in Hungary and Nuremburg, Germany. This
itinerary crossed three countries borders while sailing north along
the River Danube.

I trust that in the above I have given a taste of the Embla
from this particular cruise. All the port visits were well guided
and each made most interesting. As far as visiting the various
places they were all actually intense despite being well planned.
All credit to Viking River Cruises who, by day two, assessed the
balance of passengers mobility needs and arranged separate
transports for those with less difficulty walking in order that
they were not hindered or slowed. Full marks there VRC.

But River cruising wasnâ€TMt all intense fast action million
fact excursions. This was also about various lengths of time given
to leisurely cruising along tranquil waterways, passing spectacular
landscapes and passing unique, ever-changing vistas whether scenic
or historical.

River cruising is not ocean cruising and should never be
considered in the same light. River cruise ships are, by their very
nature, not conducive to what ocean cruisers have come to expect.
They are of course considerably smaller but, having said that, the
newer ships are well designed and when factors are considered they
certainly provide a comfortable platform to journey along sometimes
tight rivers otherwise fascinating ports of call.

Their amenities are of such a level that one should not expect
what one experiences on larger Ocean cruise liners. They do,
however, certainly on Viking River Cruises, make the best of their
limited space and organisation to provide a most attractive
product.

Evening entertainment was limited but, to be perfectly frank,
after some days excursions and early starts planned for the next
day, after dinner entertainment would be the last item on many
passengers minds.

Food and dining was good with many evenings offering regional
favourites to supplement traditional dinner favourites.

Once or twice unscheduled stops were called for. These were
explained to us as being necessary due to low levels of water in
the river making navigation unsafe. To VRCâ€TMs credit, when this
did happen there were prompt alternative coaching arrangements to
get us on our scheduled tours.

River cruising offers an interesting alternative to ocean
cruising and both my wife and myself thoroughly enjoyed this latest
adventure. Indeed, so much so that we have booked further cruises
with Viking River Cruises in 2013 and 2014. That in itself canâ€TMt
be a bad recommendation for either the style of cruising or the
company.

For us a river cruise once a year will probably be the norm as
our great love is to be dancing out on the oceans. All the same,
thank you Viking River Cruises, you have an excellent product and
are obviously a brand leader.

A full review including the ports of call along the river
Danube can be found on my own cruise blog....